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Amare Stoudemire Has A Jewish Mother?

by Mike Prada • Jul 28, 2010 2:03 PM EDT

It should have raised a few eyebrows when Amare Stoudemire tweeted a couple days ago that he was headed to Israel to "learn about it." Sure, Stoudemire's free to do whatever he wants on his own time, but Israel? Seems kind of random.

Unless ... it wasn't so random after all. Apparently, Stoudemire just learned that his mom is Jewish.

According to an Army Radio report, Stoudemire plans to spend time in Israel learning Hebrew, having recently learned he has a Jewish mother.

(It's worth noting that this is Amare's mom).

According to Jewish law, if your mother is Jewish, then you, by definition are also Jewish. Therefore, if true, Amare Stoudemire is ... well, I don't even need to say it, because you know. As a fellow member of the tribe, let me be the first to welcome Amare into our little club. Jordan Farmar and Omri Casspi say hello.

But wait, it gets better.

Not content with him being a member of the tribe, Israeli newspaper Ha'Aretz (which is normally the least tabloid-y paper in the Israeli press) is pushing for Amare to join the Israeli national team.

News of Stoudemire's trip quickly had Israeli basketball fans buzzing with speculation that they might one day see him playing alongside another Jewish NBA star, Israel's Omri Caspi, on the national team.

So far there is no indication as to whether Stoudemire is here to stay - although for the moment, Israel seems to be getting along just fine without him, beating Great Britain 86-82 in Tueday's training game.

Well that pretty much answers the question right there. Why even bother trying to get Amare to play for your team when you can beat Great Britain in a training game without him?

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Comments

Oh, the USA is SO gonna pwn everyone in hoops at the next Maccabi Games…

by EdTheRed on Jul 28, 2010 2:37 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs

Wow...

Thank you for this completely irrelevant news lol

by JRD373 on Jul 28, 2010 3:46 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

ya for us

jews finally catch a break in sports after about 5 yrs of mediocrity

by NJEagle on Jul 28, 2010 4:23 PM EDT reply actions

like a salmon

instinctively going upstream, Amar’e heads for New York. It all makes so much sense, now.

Potential is what you pitch when you have low current value.

by Rasputin10 on Jul 28, 2010 7:10 PM EDT reply actions

Not sure why this is weird...

Lots of Jewish black people. When Somalia was starving, Israel accepted over half million refugees, all black and all Jewish.

by MatthewH on Jul 28, 2010 7:27 PM EDT reply actions

Not as many as you think. Sephardi are the minority in most parts of Jewish localities, especially in places like the United States and Israel.

Formerly RyanGiggs11, currently a Contributor to SBN Philly // @scotkess
"College is only 4 years, but the Eagles are for life." - Ironhank

by Scott Kessler on Jul 29, 2010 3:05 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, they exist

As do Ethiopian Jews, but there aren’t that many of them.

SB Nation DC | Bullets Forever | Twitter.

by Mike Prada on Jul 29, 2010 8:50 AM EDT up reply actions

Operation Flying Carpet I believe, no? Israel is a welcoming place for people who have claimed to be Jewish (Ethiopians, Russians during Soviet/post Soviet era) who wanted refuge. The problem is what happens once they get there. Someone like Amare is going to face a bit of racism from the established Jewish Orthodoxy. It’s unfortunate that those put in power are misinterpreting the Torah in order to pursue doctrine that restrict Judaism to only those within their own sect (look up the new ‘conversion’ bill that is currently being voted on in Israel).

Formerly RyanGiggs11, currently a Contributor to SBN Philly // @scotkess
"College is only 4 years, but the Eagles are for life." - Ironhank

by Scott Kessler on Jul 29, 2010 11:10 AM EDT up reply actions